Cat Ba - Boat Tour - Monkey Island

As I mentioned before, Jenni, myself, Stan and Marilyn went on a "guided tour" of the islands.... Let's just back this up a little bit...

We knew there were lots of things to see on the different islands surrounding Cat Ba. We heard you could float around on a small yacht, and there was great kayaking and a mysterious place called Monkey Island (who wouldn't want to see an island full of monkeys?!! I mean, how cool would that be... right?)

 "And it's mystery was only exceeded by it's power" Never mind... if you don't understand that one, good for you.

I digress. I found a place that does professional guided tours, fishing tours, and all kinds of stuff. The price seemed fair, so I told them I would check with my friends and come back later to buy tickets.

We found our friends enjoying fermented beverages at a restaurant close to the water. It was still the morning, but I guess it's always 5 o'clock when you are on vacation :) I told them about the boat tour that I had researched and the price. Stan had found his new best friend (his name escapes me at the moment) that was ordering rounds for all of them. He told us that he had a boat, and he would take us for less money. It only saved us about $10 total for the four of us to go with this guy instead of the place that I found.

 For the record, the place that I found had pictures of their boats and tours and looked totally legit. I didn't have a good feeling about this new guy, but Stan was adamant that he was the right choice. The guy said he had a boat, Stan liked him, so we all agreed to proceed with the "Random-Guy Tour Company." :)

I know... my foreshadowing is subtle, isn't it? 

We all got our gear and were ready to go. Marilyn couldn't wait to go kayaking through the beautiful islands. Stan was excited that Marilyn was excited. Jenni was excited to get pictures from the boat, and I was excited to see MONKEY ISLAND whose mystery was only exceeded by it's power

We piled in the taxi that took us to the docks. There were several beautiful boats there! We saw several people walking up through a gate to a nice little yacht, so I started to follow them. The the guy we bought tickets from tells us to follow him..... it's all downhill from there.

I remember when we saw our boat for the first time. I'm not even sure you could call it a boat. I guess it was better than a raft, but not by much :) When I saw it, I wasn't sure if I was going to even get on the thing. I was expecting a larger boat like the one we chartered to get to Cat Ba, and instead we got this......

There she is... the greenish one in the middle. Would you get on that thing?

 I've seen Vietnamese fishing boats that look 10 times nicer than that death-trap!

Stan watching the Captain try to start the boat. He had to take apart some
of the floor boards and turn some rusted crank to get it going.

That is the look of, "Are we really going out on THIS boat?!"

After a while, we were able to laugh about our boat. Secretly, I was worried the whole time that it would break down and we would be stranded, but the little thing made it.

We went by some floating villages.

Our Captain :)

Marilyn painted us a picture of our "boat." It's hanging in our house :)

 Our first stop on the tour was kayaking! Marilyn was totally excited. 

 We were floating so long that we thought, "Wow, this guy must know the best spot to go. If he thinks all these beautiful areas aren't good enough, then, I can't wait to see where we are going!"

We floated by so many beautiful spots that would have been great for kayaking..... however.... our tour did not include any of those locations.

Instead we found the area of the archipelago that naturally collected all the floating trash and debris. There was also a fishing village nearby that floated on huge styrofoam blocks.

The area was a total eyesore compared to everything else we had seen. Almost as quickly as we got in the water, we got back out. Stan was angriest, because he knew how much Marilyn was looking forward to this. 

Kayaking was an epic fail, but Monkey Island was next... how could Monkey Island possibly go wrong?

We all bonded from our disgust with the kayaking.

What can you do but smile?

There it is!!! Monkey Island!!!

Our driver pulled us up to the beach, and dropped us off. He said he would be back in an hour.

Finally, I got to see Monkey Island! Maybe I would make a monkey friend, or see the cute, little, docile, creatures doing cute little monkey things :)    or not...

The first thing I noticed on Monkey Island was that everyone, I mean everyone, on the island was standing on the beach with their backs to the ocean, facing the monkeys. Everyone looked tense. Nobody was laying down in the sun or relaxing. About 70% of the people there were holding large sticks. They were obviously afraid of the monkeys running around the treeline.

The four of us laughed at the people. I laughed more than the rest of us. I couldn't understand why everyone was so fearful of these tiny, cute, cuddly, creatures!

Adorable!

Cowards! I just didn't see what the big deal was...

Then, I started to understand. I had judged everyone on the island much too soon. 

I witnessed one guy wearing a backpack and talking to his friends. Then, he turned his back to the monkeys to face his comrades. His back was turned for maybe 4 seconds before a demon-monkey jumped on his back and started screaming in a high pitch, "ooo! ooo! aahhh! aaahh! aaaahhh!" I didn't blink at all, and my mouth dropped to the sandy beach.

The guy started spinning around in circles, flailing his arms and yelling. It looked like a cowboy riding an angry bull at a rodeo. The monkey didn't let go, it just kept screaming. Finally, the guy threw down his backpack, and the monkey scampered away... I think it went to go laugh with it's evil little friends.

I looked at Jenni, who had the same look on her face, and said, "We need to find a big stick." Then, we joined the Terrified-Tourist-Club... meaning that we did not lie down on the beach, we kept our backs to the water and faced the deranged demons that inhabited Monkey Island. I made several "Planet of the Apes" jokes, but nobody thought they were funny... oh look, it's Dr. Zaius!

After a few uneventful minutes, Jenni and I got our courage back. (My courage didn't last long) We decided to go up to the bamboo restaurant and get some drinks. I confidently walked to the edge of the restaurant with our drinks, stood by a table and enjoyed the view. It truly was a breathtaking view. 

Then, one of the misfit monkeys hopped up on the ledge by our table. Then, another one hopped up next to his furry friend. I pretended that they didn't bother me.

A moment later, Koba leaps on the table in front of me. I stand my ground. I wasn't going to let some dirty ape take over my territory. (Yes, I realize that monkeys are not apes, but bear with me here)

Here is Koba... the dirty ape!

So I decided to scare him away. I waved my hand at him and bellowed, "Get out of here!" Big mistake...

Koba retreated a few steps and looked at me with complete terror in his eyes... but then, he immediately leaped back at me with a guttural hiss.

I remember him looking something like this.....

This might not be EXACTLY how Koba looked, but you get the idea  :)

 I never realized it before, but monkey teeth look alot like human teeth.   It looked like an animal with a child's set of teeth. It was totally creepy. 

I was done being macho! I quickly walked away. Koba kept following me. Finally, I was saved by a little old lady that was carrying a big stick. She slammed it on the table, and Koba scampered off into the trees. I did not feel like a winner at that point in time. I was pushed around by a tiny, cute, cuddly, evil monkey, and then had to be saved by a geriatric woman holding a piece of lumber. I've had better days!

I pretty much had my fill of Monkey Island at that point. I looked out into the bay and saw our boat anchored way out in the water. Our guide was laying down sleeping on the boat. There was no way he would hear my cries for help, so I didn't bother.

Kill it! Kill it with fire!!!

Luckily, my lovely bride found a hiking trail further down the beach. At first I thought, "Oh let's go into the monkey-infested forest... that's a great idea. Then, ninja monkeys can attack me from the trees too!"

But when we walked down there, there were no monkeys at all. They seemed to like the other side of the beach better. They tried to steal peoples drinks and food. That's why Koba came after me, I had two drinks in my hands!

The hiking path was really cool. The climb up was so steep that they anchored ropes to help you climb without falling. When we got to the top, there was an amazing view of the island!

Now there's a cute, cuddly monkey!!! :)

Yes, that's a monkey drinking a Coke!

While the trip definitely didn't go as planned, we still ended up with a great story to tell. 

And we ended up having a really good time by the end of it!

-Johnny

Rock the Cat Ba... Island

We had a long weekend during the last week in March, so we decided to make the best of it. Our Jiu Jitsu coach, Aaron, was getting married in a city a few hours east of Hanoi. We somehow convinced ourselves that they were getting married in Halong Bay, which we heard was this beautiful, tropical paradise. So we spent all of our time planning on going there, and we were totally excited to travel to the ocean! The night before the wedding, I read the invitation closely and saw that the wedding was really in Hai Phong. I tried to convince myself that Hai Phong was the same as Halong Bay even though they don't sound the same at all  :( We were told by our friend, Nhung, that Hai Phong looks nothing like Halong Bay and more like Hanoi... which turned out to be true.

Northern Vietnam

We met up with two of Aaron's old friends and our friends, Stan and Marilyn. We loaned our motorbike to Stan and Marilyn for the weekend, so they could get around on two bikes instead of cramming on one. The two of us  shared a taxi with Aaron's two friends and rode to the bus station. One of them spoke Vietnamese and got our tickets for us. Everything went smoothly. We boarded the bus and began our journey to Hai Phong. 

Aaron told us that the buses are always half empty, and that was true for a few kilometers. The bus kept stopping on the road and picking up more passengers. Slowly the bus filled with more and more Vietnamese people. After about an hour there were no more seats left on the bus. I figured they wouldn't stop for anymore people, but I was totally wrong! I saw the look on the first person's face that wasn't going to get a seat... he was completely unfazed. Another guy working on the bus grabbed a little stool and placed it in the center aisle of the bus. The man sat down in the asile. You could tell he had done this before. After another hour, the whole center aisle was full of people sitting on plastic stools. It was totally foreign to us... pun intended :) We eventually arrived in Hai Phong and made our way to the hotel for the wedding.

We didn't know what Vietnamese weddings were like, so we didn't know what to expect. Aaron, the groom, is Australian and his soon-to-be wife was Vietnamese. The first difference we noticed was that when we sat at our table, and it was already full of food. People started eating before the ceremony even started. Then, there was a big show as the procession came down the aisle. Smoke machines and fire works went off when they crossed over the pool on a catwalk. There was a man screaming in Vietnamese on the microphone.

The man kept yelling in the microphone and they preformed a few ceremonies. Once they exchanged rings, huge sparklers went off all over the room (fire code.... what fire code?) One of Aaron's friends was sitting next to one of these flame throwers when it went off... he was about 10 cm away from cremation. We didn't get any pics of it, because we were terrified and unable to think at the time.

After the ceremony, there were several music performances and everyone kept eating. Not long after that, people started leaving. We were totally confused. We had been waiting to go out on the dance floor (we had spent several minutes earlier trying to figure out what area would be used for dancing) It turns out that at Vietnamese weddings, there isn't always dancing (maybe never, idk) and people leave as soon as they have finished eating and congratulating the newlyweds.

We considered going back to Hanoi, because we didn't want to stay in Hai Phong. It was Aaron's friend who narrowly escaped death-by-inferno earlier who suggested we go ahead with our original plan and finish the trip to Halong Bay. He also suggested going to Cat Ba Island. Then, Aaron's other friend who speaks Vietnamese said she could talk to the hotel staff and get us a car to drive us out there (it was about another hour and a half East) We thought about it for about 2 seconds... we were going to Cat Ba island in Halong Bay. We didn't totally know what that meant at the time, but it certainly sounded like an ideal opportunity for another adventure :)

A nice black car picked us up at the hotel. It felt strange hiring a private car and driver, but I quickly got over it. Usually when we travel I am paranoid about people stealing my stuff so I always try to avoid doing things that would make me an easy target... I did the same things in Texas. It's just that in Vietnam, you find yourself in a crowd way more often than you do in Dallas. So my guard is always up, but on this day we were able to throw our bags in the trunk without any worries of theft. It was so relaxing, I slept almost the whole way there.

In the car

It was nice not having to drive, navigate, deal with traffic or any of the other fun things that comes along with driving.

Along the way we got a text from Marilyn (we loaned her our motorbike before we left) saying that the weather was bad in Hanoi and they decided to go to Cat Ba instead. They would beat us there by a few hours.

We arrived in Halong Bay in the early afternoon and went straight to the port. All the ticket counter workers told us that there were no more boats going to Cat Ba until 11:00 a.m. the next morning. We weren't giving up that easily. Losing 1 out of our 4 nights in Cat Ba was not an option. We could see an island off in the distance, and both of us assumed it was Cat Ba. We figured we could just pay some guy on a little fishing boat to take us out there.

When I asked one of the guys in Vietnamese "How much... Cat Ba" and pointed at the island, he looked at me like I asked him to eat broken glass. Then he quickly sputtered away from the crazy Americans. Then a young girl could see what we were doing and came to talk some sense into us. She said we needed a bigger boat, but I didn't agree with her at the time. I mean, I could see the island... it wasn't that far away!

Then we walked down the line of boats asking everyone to take us. Some offered to take us, but wanted too much money, so we kept going down the line. I wasn't going to pay too much, because I could see the island with my own eyes! My strategy was to let everyone see us walk away. I knew someone wanted our money and would be willing to deal. We finally found a boat (double-decker) that was willing to negotiate. We made a deal and set out for Cat Ba.

So far today, we have hired a private car/driver and chartered a private boat! I can't let these sort of things get to my head, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy it :)

We had this huge boat all to ourselves. The bottom deck looked like a nice restaurant and the top deck had several wooden benches so you could sit and enjoy the breathtaking view. It turns out that Cat Ba is just one island in an archipelago. The island that I saw from Halong Bay was not Cat Ba... not even close. After about 30 minutes floating through these amazing cliff islands, we laughed as we remembered the look on the face of the old man in the fishing boat earlier. He looked at me like I was crazy for a good reason. It took us over an hour, maybe 2 hours, to get to Cat Ba on a very large boat; I don't think we would have survived the trip on the little fishing boat, and the old guy knew it :)


Traveling through these small islands made us wish we had a professional camera, because you just can't see the colors in the pictures from our iphone. The green trees were so thick on the islands that it looked like they were covered in tons of moss. There were no beaches on most of them. Cliffs just shot straight out of the water several meters high. It looked like something out of Lord of the Rings!

It looked like a maze - crazy beautiful!

The dragon on our boat

My gorgeous bride on the boat :)

On the upper deck

Sweethearts inside the cabin :) Hi Everyone!  This is Jenni and I have to add that we had such a wonderfully romantic time on the boat too!  During the ride Johnny played one of the first songs we danced to at our wedding and asked me to dance!  The whole dining room became our dance floor and it was such a special time - marital bliss!  (Our private guide that we were having tea with even left for a bit so we had the whole place to ourselves.)  We are so fortunate to have one another and to be so happy and healthy :)  We are very much enjoying starting our lifetime of adventures together and want to thank everyone again that loves and supports us so much!!

The fog and darkness started setting in....

We were on the boat so long that it got very dark and we could only see the faint silhouettes of the surrounding islands. Then we saw this light in the picture below. It was the north pier of the island. All of the hotels were on the south end, 30 km away. So we hoped there would be a taxi there, because we didn't come during a scheduled boat ride.

When we reached shore, there was only one taxi driver there. He wanted a ton of money and wasn't willing to negotiate. Jenni was worried (so was I, but I wasn't going to show it to the driver) so I told her that we would pretend to start walking the 30 km to get the guy to come down. I knew he had an advantage, because he was the only taxi, in the middle of nowhere, but I also knew that I had the advantage of pretending to be stupid :) I also knew that he needed to drive back anyway, so he might as well make some money. We took about 12 steps before he stopped us and negotiated a reasonable price. I think part of the reason he stopped us was because he thought we would get lost and/or hurt :) Victory yet again!

We met up with Stan and Marilyn and got a room with a balcony view of the beach. It was the perfect view for the dragon dance and fireworks show that Jenni wrote about before. Here are some pics of Cat Ba:

Jenni says this was actually from when we went out to dinner  a little before the Cat Ba trip

Some scary-looking critters

A parade went down our street

The Dragon Dance

The only thing left to tell you about was our "guided tour" that was supposed to take us kayaking and then to a lovely little place called Monkey Island. That colorful story is going to have to be a blog post all by itself :)

Thanks for reading,

Johnny

I got into an argument with this little guy... I'll write about it soon